1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to product information providing apparatuses, product information providing methods, and programs and recording media therefor, and more specifically, it relates to a product information providing apparatus, a product information providing method, and a program and recording medium therefor for providing product information management data in accordance with a data request from a customer through a communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various tools for managing product information or product configuration in product development have been developed. Among these tools, software for managing product information, that is, so-called PDM (Product Data Management), is a tool for managing product information concerning product development. A PDM system in which the software is installed is built on a computer network. A design engineer creates various documents and registers the documents in the PDM system. A development representative or engineer can refer to various pieces of information concerning products under development on a terminal. The information includes, for example, specifications and drawings created for products under development.
If the products under development are electronic devices, such as electronic components or semiconductor devices, an apparatus which uses the electronic devices is often developed and designed concurrently with the electronic devices. In particular, when a product under development is not for in-house use but for outside use, such as a custom-made product or a product specially made to order for a customer, the development of a design typically requires holding a large number of meetings with the customer and exchanging many documents with the customer before, at last, the final specification is confirmed.
Outside customers may frequently ask questions regarding the progress of a particular electronic device design and may make inquiries about the specification and the like.